University of Königsberg
| Albertus-Universität Königsberg | |
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| Latin: Universitas Albertina | |
| Type | Public |
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| Established | 1544 |
| Rector | Georg Sabinus 1544–1547 (first) |
| Location | Kaliningrad, Russia |
| Campus | Urban |
The University of Königsberg (German: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussia, and was commonly known as the Albertina.
Following World War II, the city of Königsberg was transferred to the Soviet Union according to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement, and renamed Kaliningrad in 1946. The Albertina was closed and the remaining German population expelled. Today, the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in Kaliningrad claims to maintain the traditions of the Albertina.
Albert, former Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and first Duke of Prussia since 1525, had purchased a piece of land behind Königsberg Cathedral on the Kneiphof island of the Pregel River from the Samland chapter, where he had an academic gymnasium (school) erected in 1542. He issued the deed of foundation of the Collegium Albertinum on 20 July 1544, after which the university was inaugurated on 17 August.
The newly established Protestant duchy was a fiefdom of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the university served as a Lutheran counterpart to the Catholic Cracow Academy. Its first rector was the poet Georg Sabinus, son-in-law of Philipp Melanchthon. Lithuanian scholars Stanislovas Rapalionis and Abraomas Kulvietis were among the first professors of university. All professors had to take an oath on the Augsburg Confession. Since the Prussian lands lay beyond the borders of the Holy Roman Empire, both Emperor Charles V and Pope Paul III withheld their approval, nevertheless the Königsberg academy received the royal privilege by King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland on 28 March 1560.
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